Daily Office Lectionary | Genesis 49 & Matthew 7
Genesis 49
Summary
Jacob gives a “blessing suitable” to each son. Each blessing reveals something of the experience of the son. The “blessings” are not all positive, in fact, some feel like prophetic curses.
Reuben is, on the one hand, Jacob’s strong firstborn, “preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.” On the other hand, he’s “unstable as water!” Reuben slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and his father call him out for it. Simeon and Levi are violent men for their disproportionate reaction to the defiling of their sister.
Judah is a contrast to Simeon, Levi, and Reuben. He shall be praised by his brothers.
Judah is a “lion’s cub,” fierce and not to be trifled with. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of all peoples” (Gen. 49:10). The tribe of Judah will include David, Solomon, and the ultimate descendant of Judah will be Christ, whose scepter will rule all people and he will command the obedience of the peoples.
Joseph receives the longest blessing. He’s a “fruitful bough...the archers bitterly attacked him...yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob” (Gen. 49:22-24). Jacob recognizes Joseph’s faithfulness through suffering.
Jacob once again calls his sons to ensure he’s buried in his ancestral land. He dies and “was gathered to his people.”
Consider the role of Judah in the Joseph narrative. How is he portrayed in the story?
Why is Benjamin a “ravenous wolf”? Consider the later episode of the Benjamites in Judges 17-21.
Matthew 7
Summary
In Matthew 7:12, Jesus gives a summary statement of his teaching on relating to others: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” This provides a closing frame for a section that also began with a comment about the law and the prophets in Matthew 5:17. Jesus is showing what fulfilling the law looks like with a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees and it can be summarized by “do unto the others as you would have them do to you,” the Golden Rule. Jesus says if you do this, then you are fulfilling the law and prophets.
So with the Golden Rule in mind, Jesus says brings up two areas of law in the first part of chapter 7. Jesus seems to keep working with a triadic pattern, where he introduces a teaching, shows a vicious cycle of it gone wrong, and then gives a practical action to take to fulfill the teaching the right way.
Jesus brings up the teaching of judging one another. Judgment gone awry looks like treating your brother under a stricter standard than you treat yourself. It looks like being harsh with others while giving yourself a pass, or noticing a particle of dirt in your brothers eye but somehow miss the 2x4 in your own eye. The eye is the organ of judgment in Scripture. God sees and makes a judgment, calling things good (like in creation) or bringing judgment as in the fall in Genesis 3. There is a proper use of judgment in Scripture, but it requires clear eyes that have all the specs removed by repentance and are trained in wise evaluations--not superficial, fastidious, snap judgments that characterized the Pharisees.
The next teaching is “Do not give to dogs what is holy, and do not throw pearls before swine..” This is a reference of entrusting holy matters to Gentiles or to pagans. In the Old Testament, the people of God frequently sought the help and protection of Gentile powers, in some cases giving up holy things from the temple. Jesus says if you do this you’ll just get trampled and attacked. Indeed that happened in the OT with the Assyrian and Babylonian takeovers and will happen to Jerusalem again in AD 70 when the Romans destroy the Temple and Jerusalem after a era of compromise.
Rather than seeking protection from pagans in exchange for one’s worship, holy things, and holy practices, Jesus calls us to “ask, seek, and knock.” The Lord will provide the basic protection, good fits because he is our loving Father in heaven.
Jesus in the first instance is addressing Israel. He’s calling Israel to repentance to be who Israel was meant to be all along: a light to the nations. Of course, Jesus is gathering in the Gentiles, but the Gospel comes to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. And so does the message of repentance.
So Israel must choose to enter the Kingdom of God by the narrow gate. The broad road they are on is the one that had the same fate as Israel and Judah in the Old Testament: destruction. The narrow gate comes by listening to and heeding the true prophet--not the false prophets who are ravenous wolves--but the prophets who bear good fruit. Jesus is the true prophet who is bearing fruit as the true Israelite! They must recognize him first and shun the false messages of the false prophets.
Jesus' words have a broader application beyond Israel to the present day, when the road is still narrow that leads to flourishing life in the kingdom but the road is broad that ends in destruction.
Jesus even warns that not everyone who names him will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of the Father. And Jesus’ sermon is pointing us to the will of the father. The Sermon on the Mount is gospel. Jesus is preaching the kingdom. He’s inviting us into the kingdom life!
But there are warnings. Jesus’ invitation is also a construction project. He calls Israel and us to build our lives on the rock: the rock of Jesus.
Reflection Questions
Consider how Paul’s teaching on judging those inside the church in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 relates to Jesus’ teaching on judgment.
Jesus’ sermon ends with a series of warnings. How should we respond to such warnings from Jesus?